216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (2024)

The past continuous, also called the past progressive, is the focus of this section. Right now, there are 216 Past Progressive worksheets listed with more being added regularly by busy teachers just like you. Some worksheets combine more than one tense while others focus solely on the past continuous. This worksheet for elementary students is for practicing the past simple and past continuous tenses. There are some comprehension questions, fill in the blank exercises, and even a section devoted to word order. Each page has its own image and story that students use to complete the exercises. This could be done individually or in pairs but should be check or reviewed as a class so that students have some speaking practice as well. If you do not want to spend too much class time on this, just choose one page of the worksheet. Look at the main tense section for all tense related worksheets or another tense subsection if you want to narrow your search.

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Related Topics

  1. Past Perfect
  2. Past Perfect Continuous
  3. Past Simple
  4. Past Simple vs. Present Perfect

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  1. Past Simple vs Past Continuous Elementary Worksheet
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  5. Past Simple vs. Past Continuous

GRAMMAR TIP:What Is Past Continuous?

Past continuous describes actions and states continued in the past period of time. The construction of a past continuous is similar to the present continuous tense, in that it has a past simple form of 'to be' instead of a present simple form preceding the present participle. An example of a past continuous inside a sentence is 'I was painting the house.' There's the past simple form of 'to be' in the finite position (was), with the present participle of 'to paint' (painting) following it.

216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (12)

Source: Past Continuous on Freebase, licensed under CC-BY

Time Expressions

kristine44

Future Perfect, Past Continuous, Past Perfect Continuous, Present Simple

This grammar guide contains the most frequently used time expressions through tenses at the intermediate/upper-intermediate level. It's ordered by time (Present, Past, and Future) and by ...

1216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (15) 17,983IntAdv

Past Continuous B1-B2

ESL Pals

Business Grammar, Past Continuous, Teenagers, Adult Learners

This ESL grammar lesson plan begins with an explanation of the past continuous tense and when to use it. It includes six exercises where students will learn how to use the tense correctl ...

1216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (17) 15,331IntAdv

Present or Past Progressive Tenses

Marek Rygiel

Past Continuous, Present Continuous

There is a picture of a busy train station in a small town. Fourteen people are doing various things (talking, checking the time, reading a newspaper, etc.). The picture is partly colore ...

1216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (19) 11,884ElemPre-Int

That's All Folks...

Stuart82

Adjectives vs. Adverbs, Past Continuous, Past Simple, 'Used to' and 'Would', Character and Personality

This worksheet is a revision lesson for Pre-Intermediate level 12-14-year-olds of personality adjectives, past simple vs past continuous and used to, in the context of popular cartoons. ...

2216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (21) 8,537Pre-Int

Past Simple or Past Continuous 1

kristine44

Past Continuous, Past Simple

This worksheet teaches the difference between the past simple and the past continuous. It contains three exercises: Rewrite the verb, Put the verbs in brackets in the Past Simple or Past ...

1216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (23) 23,953Pre-IntInt

Reading: A Hot Day

Helen

Past Continuous, Past Simple, Family/Friends, Opinions

This booklet for complete adult beginners is also suitable for all ages. Written in past and past continuous tenses it shows preference language such as ‘either’ or ‘decided& ...

1216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (25) 11,579BegElem

A Crazy Trip: Past Tense Storytelling

Pocket Passport

Past Continuous, Past Simple, Everyday/Social English, Say/Tell/Speak/Talk

A fun lesson to practice the past simple, past continuous, and past perfect. Watch the animated video, answer the questions, and use the illustrated flashcards to retell the story and te ...

1216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (27) 20,288ElemPre-IntIntAdv

Alba Mena

Past Continuous, Past Simple

Song: Thunder, by Imagine Dragons. Lyrics with gaps to fill with the past simple and the past continuous, mostly the second verb tense. Other questions included about the song's vocabulary and th ...

1216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (29) 18,054Pre-Int

Speaking About Now, Before Now, After Now Question Worksheet

Antonella Arista

Past Continuous, Past Simple, Present Simple, Present Simple vs. Present Continuous

I created this worksheet to help students revise a variety of verb tenses and practice forming questions and answers. I used it in secondary schools as well as in adult conversation classes and it ...

1216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (31) 21,462Pre-IntInt

Past Simple vs. Past Continuous

Fernanda Francisco

Past Continuous, Past Simple

In this worksheet, students should use two tenses (past simple and past continuous) by filling in blank spaces. Rules about when each tense is used must be learned before trying to solve the works ...

1216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (33) 76,596Pre-Int

Grammar Revision with The Cranberries - Animal Instinct

Paloma Valencia Castro

Personal Pronouns, Future Simple, Past Continuous, Present Perfect

This fun activity will help students practice some grammar elements such as past tenses, pronouns and the future with 'will'. Ideal for elementary or pre-intermediate students. The song can be par ...

1216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (35) 21,636ElemPre-Int

Mystery Murder (Past Continuous)

Fernanda Zamorano Grajale

Grammar » Verb Tense Worksheets » Past Continuous

This activity is an inversed Clue game where SS need to find the person who was murdered, where was he/she murdered and what was he/she doing when it happened using Past Continuous. Suggested card ...

1216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (37) 68,605ElemPre-IntInt

Aytac KANDEMIR

Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Simple

This is a great dialogue worksheet for learners who have difficulty learning some grammar topics such as past simple, past continuous and past perfect. This worksheet is not suitable for young lea ...

7216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (39) 69,800ElemPre-IntInt

Urban Legends for High School Students

BusyTeacher Contributor

Past Continuous, Past Simple, Present Simple

This is a lesson produced to work with high school students to develop past tenses and the ability of telling and writing stories. The activities are contextualized through the genre Urban Legends ...

8216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (41) 34,185IntAdv

The Past Tenses Show Poem

Diana Weisz

Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Simple

This is a little poem I came up with as a metaphor for the narrative tenses. You can use it as a poster or a fun handout for higher level groups. You can ask them why each metaphor is used and do ...

4216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (43) 28,239IntAdvExam

The Legend of the Scarecrow (Past Tenses Revision)

Diana Weisz

Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Simple

This is a worksheet to revise the narrative tenses, namely the past simple, past continuous and past perfect. It allows students to practice their listening, reading, pronunciation, vocabulary and ...

8216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (45) 39,272Pre-IntIntAdvExam

Movie Wprksheet: Short Film+ Description Activity ( Past)

English Through Videos

Past Continuous, Past Simple, Describing Things, Movie + Video + Cartoons

This worksheet is designed to be used with a YouTube video. It helps learners practise the use of past tenses to describe what happened in a short film. Play the video using this link: https://www ...

10216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (47) 60,095ElemPre-IntIntAdv

Past Continuous- Crime

MargaGracia

Past Continuous, Crime and Punishment

This worksheet was devised as part of a didactic unit on crime, mystery and detective fiction. Since many of the police and detective questions tend to be in the past continuous, I decided to mix ...

15216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (49) 47,184ElemPre-IntInt

Song Worksheet: Fairytale of New York by Christy Moore

Paul Rooney

Past Continuous, Past Simple, Reading Comprehension, ESL Songs For Teaching English

The song is a cover of the Christmas classic by the Pogues, performed by Christy Moore on the Jools Holland show. The song begins and ends with a short anecdote giving some background to how the s ...

2216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (51) 24,347Pre-IntIntAdv

Test- Grade 8

nergis memili

Should/Ought to, Past Continuous, Past Simple

This is a test for grade 8. The answer key is included. Here you can find questions about some grammar like simple past and the past continuous tense. Also there are some questions about suggestio ...

1216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (53) 22,232Elem

Past Simple vs Past Continuous Powerpoint

Afni Yusuff

Past Continuous, Past Simple, Young Learners

This powerpoint slide is excellent for teachers to explain the difference between simple past and past continuous (progressive). The slides are detailed with interesting animations, pictures, soun ...

14216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (55) 70,140All

Past Continuous Presentation Powerpoint

Afni Yusuff

Grammar » Verb Tense Worksheets » Past Continuous

This powerpoint slide provides a detailed and complete explanation of the format, sentence structures and examples of past continuous (progressive). It makes explaining the rules much easier ...

6216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (57) 34,864All

Movie Worksheet: Mr. Bean at the Hospital (Mixed Past Tenses)

English Through Videos

Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Simple, Movie + Video + Cartoons

This fun video activity is to practise using mixed past tenses, including past simple, past continuous, and past perfect. The video shows Mr. Bean at the hospital. Learners must combine two senten ...

17216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (59) 97,570IntAdvExam

Movie Worksheet: Describing Accidents (Past)

English Through Videos

Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Simple, Movie + Video + Cartoons

This fun video activity is to practise using various narrative tenses, including past simple, past continuous, and past perfect. The video has many clips of accidents, slips, and falls. Learners s ...

13216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (61) 53,616ElemPre-IntIntAdvExam

Past Simple- Holiday Story

Khatuna

Past Continuous, Past Simple, Travelling/Culture Studies, Creative Writing Prompts

It's a writing prompt to encourage students to write a story using past simple and past continuous. Students can read each other's stories after they've finished and suggest ways to make the story ...

5216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (63) 42,494ElemPre-IntInt

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216 FREE Past Continuous Worksheets (2024)
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